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a low-budget do-it-yourself vibe throughout. The Halls
of Wickwire, by contrast, is more polished. But the tunes
themselves retain that rawness, which is no easy thing to
do. “My favourite song is Death Man,” says Mangle. “It was
written in a spontaneous manner in the basement a couple
years ago and w e performed it on a g rueling 10-week
tour of North America in 2012. The song was never the
same twice and it felt almost like playing a cover song of a
band that we’d invented. More like karaoke or drag.” It’s a
menacing and sweet song, full of tension. So how did they
keep the edgy na ture of their sound intact while upping
the ante with pr ofessional production? There are plenty
of bands who’ ve lost wha tever edge they started out
with to glitzy studio v alues. “Palm was recorded almost
entirely at home using sub-pr ofessional techniques and
expertise,” says Mangle. “It took over a year of struggling
and playing with funny equipment that I own
and was mastered at home on a tape dec k. The
Halls Of Wickwire was recorded in a professional
studio in Toronto called Candle Studios. There
we were treated with tw o wonderful and
competent people: Engineer Josh Korody and
Producer Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck).They made
it happen. We performed the record over less
than one week and they handled the contr ols.
It was a beautifully simple situation.” Whatever
the chemistry, the alb um earned Cousins a
place on the 2014 Polaris longlist. “The Polaris
nomination was good for us because it didn’t
feel like something w e’re working towards
or hoping to get to ,” says Mangle. “We were
very honoured to be included on a list with so
many great artists, some of whom w e l